| Journal: TWUK | Section: |
| Title: | Issue Date: 05/06/00 |
| Author: | Page Number: 34 |
| Copyright: Other |
French government tourist office (maison de la france) promotion
Web to offer voyage of discovery
Tourist office markets lesser-known regions in first Internet advertising campaign
THE French Government Tourist Office has launched its first Internet advertising campaign in a bid to promote the lesser-known regions in the heart of the country.A spokeswoman for the FGTO (Maison de la France) said the Hidden France campaign is an experiment to see how successful the Net will be as an advertising medium.
Visitors to the FGTO’s Web site www.franceguide.com will be offered a link to the Hidden France site where they will be able to enter a competition to win holidays in the three regions of Auvergne, Lorraine and Franche-Comte.
The Hidden France campaign, which is being run in association with SeaFrance Ferries, also includes some advertising in national newspapers. The campaign, which is costing a total of £96,000 in the UK, will run throughout June and July.
A spokeswoman for Maison de la France said: “These three areas have not been promoted in the UK before – they are the undiscovered regions of France.
“Everybody goes to the coast or the mountains but we are trying to promote the quieter, unspoiled areas.”
She said Maison de la France was also using the Internet for the first time: “When clients see something advertised on the Internet, they call up straight away. In principle, we think the campaign should work quite well because of this speedy response time.”
The tourist office is also trying to capitalise on the growth of the short-break market by working more closely with the new low-cost carriers that have launched services between the UK and France.
“The launch of these extra flights means you can be in the south of France within 2hrs of leaving work,” said the spokeswoman.
“Also, these additional services are encouraging people to venture to different parts of the country.”
She said the tourist office is helping to promote the new flights by Ryanair, Buzz and EasyJet, while continuing to work with established carriers such as Air France and GB Airways, which has just launched a service to Nantes from Gatwick. Maison de la France has also produced a new edition of its Short-Break Traveller in France guide, which contains 50 suggestions for long weekends away.
In spite of a general slump in the market to France, operators say they are continuing to see growth in the short-break sector.
In response, Sovereign has launched a dedicated Paris and Amsterdam brochure, which complements the operator’s existing cities programme but features a wider range of hotels.
At the lower end of the market, Eurolines has launched a coach-based short-breaks programme in conjunction with National Express.
It is offering trips to Calais, St Malo and Paris from £57 including travel, overnight accommodation and breakfast.
Auvergne: visitors to the FGTO’s Hidden France site could win a free break to the region
factfile
maison de la france contacts
Trade information line: 0207 399 3520
Consumer information line: 0906 824 4123 (calls are charged at rate of 60p a minute)